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Mayor Says City Needs Additional Storm Sandy Recovery $$

AT SEA - OCTOBER 29: In this handout GOES satellite image provided by NASA, Hurricane Sandy, pictured at 1240 UTC, churns off the east coast on October 29, 2012 in the Atlantic Ocean. Sandy, which has already claimed over 50 lives in the Caribbean is predicted to bring heavy winds and floodwaters to the mid-Atlantic region. (Photo by NASA via Getty Images) Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 29 (NOAA/Getty Images)

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Bridgeport’s mayor says the governor’s plan for allocating $72 million in federal funding to recover from Superstorm Sandy isn’t adequate for the city’s needs, while officials and homeowners in other municipalities are also raising similar concerns.

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s plan allocates $30 million to help homeowners repair damage; $26 million for low and moderate income multifamily homes; $4 million for businesses; $4 million for infrastructure; $2.2 million for public buildings and $2 million for planning, according to the Connecticut Post. The newspaper did not specify where the remaining $3.8 million would go.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development has 45 days to act on the plan, submitted by the administration last week. “This plan provides the road map for recovery for Connecticut residents and businesses in the wake of Storm Sandy,” Malloy said.

In written comments as the plan was finalized, mayors, local officials and homeowners said Malloy wasn’t allocating enough money to repair multifamily housing and seawalls or to help pay the cost of elevating waterfront property.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch said the plan doesn’t give the city enough money to rebuild a badly damaged seawall and allocates more money to repair single-family homes than multifamily housing.

Mark Barnhart, Stratford’s community and economic development director, said the $2.2 million allocated for public facilities is not enough but that he understood more funding will be made available later.

Nick Lundgren, housing director for the state Department of Economic and Community Development, said the need from Sandy exceeds the amount of funding, and additional money is being sought. Lundgren said some money is available for elevating homes damaged during the storm and for infrastructure work like repairing seawalls.

The state has already received $367 million in federal relief. The $72 million from HUD is in addition to that funding.
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Information from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com